Suspended Bharatiya Janata Party leader and MP Kirti Azad’s wife Poonam Azad joined the Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday.
Poonam was serving as a spokesperson of the Delhi BJP unit and has served as its vice-president in the past.
She had earlier met Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at his residence.
“We were in touch with Poonam Azad ji. Since long, she was willing to become a member of AAP. Today, after a formal discussion, she has agreed to join the party,” AAP senior leader Sanjay Singh said on Sunday.
Poonam had contested on a BJP ticket against former Congress CM Sheila Dikshit in the 2003 Delhi assembly polls.
Sources close to her claimed she had put up a tough fight, but was later ignored by the party, especially after Azad starting flagging corruption cases against BJP leaders.
On her joining Kirti Azad said, “My wife has given several years to the BJP, but there was no recognition of her work, so she has decided for herself.”
“She was denied ticket in the last two assembly polls only because a senior BJP leader had reservations against the family. Even her son was denied ticket of MCD election,” a close aide of Poonam Azad said.
Kirti Azad, who currently represents the Darbhanga Lok Sabha seat, was suspended by the BJP in 2015 for publicly targeting Finance Minister Arun Jaitley over corruption in the Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA).
